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ASSOCIATION FOR PARROT CONSERVATION 



POSITION STATEMENT 

 SUSTAINABLE USE AND TRADE OF BIRDS 



written by 



Dr. Steven R. Beissinger, Associate Professor of Ecology & Conservation Biology, School of 

 Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 



PURPOSE 



The harvest of birds from the wild for national and international trade is an important 

 cause of population declines for many species. International and national regulations have been 

 unable to control this multi-million dollar trade, which increasingly threatens the existence of 

 wild bird populations and entire species. The situation has reached a crisis proportion for many 

 species and an immediate change in the management of international trade is needed. Yet harvest 

 for trade, if done properly, has the potential to be a source of revenue for local peoples and 

 nations, and could lead to habitat conservation. In this document, the Association for Parrot 

 Conservation (APC) outlines why the international trade in birds must be temporary halted and 

 lays the biological foundation for achieving a trade in wild birds that does not threaten wild 

 populations, is sustainable, and can lead to conservation of wild birds and their habitats. 



DIMENSIONS OF THE PROBLEM 



In recent years, international and national (internal or nonexport) trade in birds for pets 

 and aviculture has grown greatly. Estimates of the cunent annual magnitude of the international 

 trade in live birds range from two to five million individuals. Accurate data on the scale of 

 internal trade in birds are not available, although this trade is also thought to be substantial in 

 many countries. Finches from Africa and parrots from around the world compose the bulk of 

 the individuals traded. 



Parrots represent the largest monetary share of commerce. The United States has 

 accounted for 47% of all parrots sold internationally, and perhaps 80% of the trade in Neotropical 

 parrots, followed by the European Economic Community and Japan. Approximately 1.8 million 

 Neotropical psittacines, nearly all captured from the wild, were legally exported for trade from 

 1982 to 1988. The actual numbers taken from the wild for commercial activities were probably 

 several times as large, when internal trade, illegal export (e.g., 150,000 parrots per year are 

 smuggled through Mexico), and high mortality rates of birds harvested from the wild (e.g., 60% 

 may die in Mexico before exportation) are considered. The retail monetary value of the 1.8 

 million parrots legally exported during this period has been estimated at $1.6 billion. 



This multi-million dollar trade increasingly threatens the existence of wild bird 

 populations and even entire species. Although nearly all exporting countries are members of the 

 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Flora and Fauna (QTES), and many exporting 



